Big-hearted lottery winner donates all her winnings to charity

Ann Inward, from West Green, Crawley, signed up to the life-saving charity’s regular lottery and superdraw at her local Sainsbury’s store two years ago.

She thought nothing more of her £8-a-month subscription until she received a call telling her she had won the top prize in the superdraw.

Ann, who is a West Ham fan, won a total of £12,244.68 with lucky numbers 1, 3, 34 and 35 which she could have used to buy 13 top-of-the-range season tickets at the Hammers’ new Olympic Park Stadium.

However, big-hearted Ann donated her winnings back to the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance and the RNLI.

She said: “I was surprised to win and it put a big smile on my face for a couple of days because you don’t think it’s going to happen to you.

“I just felt on top of the world and it’s nice to know these things are genuine. The most I’ve won before was £50 in Premium Bonds and it’s a brilliant prize for a local charity.

“I wanted to give the money back as it was an unexpected win and I don’t have a need for it. I suppose more people ought to sign up to donate to the air ambulance because none of us ever know when we might need them.”

Ann picked up her cheque during a visit to the air ambulance base and celebrated her win with a dinner at The Hillside Inn at Pound Hill.

Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance’s regular lottery costs just £1 per week and there are 12 winners drawn each week with prizes ranging from £25 to £1,000. For an extra £1 a week, players can join the superdraw which has a maximum jackpot of £25,000.

To join the lottery go to www.kssairambulance.org.uk/lottery or call 01622 833833.